News

IT for government and public sector

• August 11, 2021 11 Aug'21

  US wins bid to widen grounds of appeal in Julian Assange extradition case

  The US government accused medical expert professor Michael Kopelman of misleading the court by failing to disclose details of Assange’s relationship 

• August 11, 2021 11 Aug'21

  Four more subpostmasters set to have convictions overturned

  A further four subpostmasters are set to have their wrongful convictions overturned in the latest development in the Post Office Horizon scandal

• August 10, 2021 10 Aug'21

  Ransomware demands and payments hit new records

  Ransomware groups continue to intensify their operations as ransom demands and payments increase alongside use of “quadruple extortion” tactics during first half of 2021

• August 10, 2021 10 Aug'21

  Dutch lead the way in protecting themselves against internet risks

  Dutch citizens come top in a study on awareness of internet risks in Europe, which showed major differences across the continent

• August 09, 2021 09 Aug'21

  Possible ransomware attack hits Italian vaccine booking system

  It is still unclear who is behind the attack that caused Covid-19 vaccine bookings in Lazio, Italy, to grind to a halt, as despite masses of files being encrypted no specific ransom demands have been made for the decryptor

• August 09, 2021 09 Aug'21

  Startups provide TfL with AI and simulation to keep London moving

  Transport for London has awarded contracts to two startups to deliver new technology to support the capital’s road network

• August 06, 2021 06 Aug'21

  Apple unveils plans to scan US iPhones for child sex abuse images

  Apple will introduce child sexual abuse material detection for US users later this year, but some experts are worried that the technology could be repurposed to scan phones for other kinds of content

• August 05, 2021 05 Aug'21

  11 areas will trial digital identity scheme for residential property sector

  MyIdentity scheme will allow estate agents, conveyancers, solicitors and mortgage providers across 11 locations to trial the use of digital identity to speed up and make home buying more secure

• August 05, 2021 05 Aug'21

  BCS: more diverse workforce key to UK AI ethics global leadership

  BCS report says the UK can take an international lead in AI ethics if it cultivates a more diverse workforce, including people from non-STEM backgrounds

• August 04, 2021 04 Aug'21

  Civil Service Data Challenge announces longlist of ideas to improve data use

  Dragons’ Den-style Civil Service competition to elicit ideas to improve data use in government has whittled a list of 200 down to eight. Four will be chosen in December for delivery

• August 04, 2021 04 Aug'21

  Six Isle of Wight schools hit by ransomware attack

  Authorities are still working to manage the fallout from the attack, which has already forced at least one school to delay the start of the new term in September

• August 03, 2021 03 Aug'21

  UK MoD turns to hackers to help secure digital assets

  Hackers given direct access to internal Ministry of Defence systems to identify and report security vulnerabilities

• August 03, 2021 03 Aug'21

  Panasas’s 10x saving bumps NetApp from HPC storage deployment

  University of Wollongong got 1.2PB for the cost of 100TB for HPC storage in its cryo-imaging institute. Scale-out NAS maker Panasas also brought life sciences expertise to bear

• August 03, 2021 03 Aug'21

  HMRC will shut down Chief system by end of March 2023

  From 31 March 2023, the Customs Declaration Service will become the only operating UK customs platform when HMRC turns off the legacy Customs Handling of Import and Export Freight system

• August 03, 2021 03 Aug'21

  Government updates isolation criteria in Covid-19 app

  NHS Covid-19 app adjusted to reduce the number of people receiving self-isolation alerts

• August 02, 2021 02 Aug'21

  IR35 reforms: TUC demand for government ban on umbrella companies raises eyebrows

  The Trades Union Congress has raised eyebrows within the contracting community by calling for a ban on umbrella companies to help stamp out malpractice

• August 02, 2021 02 Aug'21

  Government publishes second version of digital identity trust framework

  The second iteration of the framework, still in alpha version, sets out how organisations can become certified digital identity service providers

• July 30, 2021 30 Jul'21

  Government opens up SME digital support programme for suppliers

  Help to Grow: Digital scheme aims to help small businesses access productivity-enhancing software, and suppliers are now encouraged to register as approved suppliers

• July 29, 2021 29 Jul'21

  HMRC hits Home Office with £33.5m bill over ‘careless’ application of IR35 rules

  The Home Office is the latest ministerial department to be hit with a multimillion-pound tax demand from HMRC after errors were discovered in its implementation of the IR35 rules

• July 29, 2021 29 Jul'21

  Investigatory Powers Tribunal finds UK spy agencies unlawfully collected personal data

  Campaign groups Privacy International and Liberty are gearing up to bring further legal action after a court found that UK spy agencies unlawfully collected phone and internet records

• July 28, 2021 28 Jul'21

  Thousands wrongly given criminal convictions after computer error

  HM Courts and Tribunals Service report reveals that computer error wrongly assigned guilty pleas to more than 5,000 defendants

• July 28, 2021 28 Jul'21

  COP26 cyber resource hub launched for Glasgow businesses

  New digital information hub for Glasgow business to help organisations keep secure both physically and online ahead of major climate change summit

• July 27, 2021 27 Jul'21

  Running a virtual hackathon

  DWP Digital recently organised a virtual hackathon. We find out how it went, and the key takeaways

• July 27, 2021 27 Jul'21

  Solent NHS Trust takes self-service route for sexual health

  NHS trust deploys an integrated sexual health self-service system, digitally triaging patients and aiming to drive proactive intervention

• July 27, 2021 27 Jul'21

  Welsh media industry gets £22.2m innovation funding package

  As part of plans to make the UK a global innovation hub by 2035, as set out in its innovation strategy, the UK government is pumping £22.2m into the media.cymru programme

• July 26, 2021 26 Jul'21

  Legacy IT issues impacted government decision-making during Covid-19, says PAC

  The government’s ability to make well-informed decisions during the pandemic has been ‘hampered’ by data and legacy IT issues, Public Accounts Committee report finds

• July 23, 2021 23 Jul'21

  DWP hit with £87.9m tax bill by HMRC over 'historic' IR35 status contractor assessment errors

  The Department for Work and Pensions’ (DWP) annual accounts highlight the challenges the public sector body has faced with implementing the IR35 reforms since they came into force in the public sector in April 2017

• July 22, 2021 22 Jul'21

  Plans to address legal but harmful content ‘threaten free speech’

  House of Lords report criticises the government’s forthcoming Online Safety Bill for imposing duty of care on tech platforms to deal with ‘legal but harmful’ content, which it says threatens freedom of expression online

• July 22, 2021 22 Jul'21

  UK government publishes full Innovation Strategy

  Strategy aims to put the UK at the global forefront of science, research and innovation

• July 22, 2021 22 Jul'21

  Government to fund interim compensation of up to £100,000 for each wrongly convicted subpostmaster

  The government will pay interim compensation within weeks to subpostmasters who were wrongly convicted of crimes due to computer errors

• July 22, 2021 22 Jul'21

  IR35: Government sets out plan to rid contractor market of non-compliant umbrellas and loan schemes

  In the wake of a consultation earlier this year, the government has drawn up a package of measures it intends to take to help protect contractors from non-compliant umbrella companies and loan scheme promoters

• July 22, 2021 22 Jul'21

  Interview: Sarah Wilkinson, former CEO, NHS Digital

  In her exit interview with Computer Weekly, NHS Digital’s former CEO Sarah Wilkinson talks about the organisation’s transformation over the past few years, the Covid-19 pandemic, bureaucracy challenges and big wins

• July 22, 2021 22 Jul'21

  Covid-19 creates opportunity to digitally transform justice system, says TechUK

  The pandemic has accelerated the use of digital in the UK justice system but challenges remain, leaving it ripe for reform with data at its heart, says industry body

• July 22, 2021 22 Jul'21

  Lords Covid-19 Committee disappointed in government engagement

  Committee is so disappointed in the government’s lack of engagement with its inquiry into the digital impact of the pandemic that it has published a separate report criticising it

• July 21, 2021 21 Jul'21

  Government officials lack experience to lead digital transformation, says NAO

  The government needs to reskill senior decision makers and give tech leaders more influence if digital business change projects are to succeed

• July 21, 2021 21 Jul'21

  France’s Macron among alleged Pegasus targets

  Data relating to devices used by French president Emmanuel Macron and the head of the World Health Organization, among others, has been uncovered in a dataset linked to government use of spyware

• July 20, 2021 20 Jul'21

  Research and development investment programme launches in UK

  A government-backed investment programme designed to direct more capital towards research and development-intensive technology firms has opened for applications

• July 19, 2021 19 Jul'21

  Government launches consultation on plans for UK digital identity market

  DCMS wants stakeholders to offer their views on proposals for a new governance regime and expanding access to government-held datasets for identity verification

• July 19, 2021 19 Jul'21

  A dozen more subpostmaster prosecutions quashed in Horizon scandal

  Twelve more former subpostmasters have had wrongful convictions for financial crimes overturned in the Court of Appeal

• July 19, 2021 19 Jul'21

  Chelsea and Westminster NHS launches acute Covid app

  The app aims to work as a one-stop Covid-19 information and resource shop for doctors and nurses working with coronavirus patients

• July 19, 2021 19 Jul'21

  Privacy Shield: One year on and companies are still grappling for answers

  Activist lawyer Max Schrems and Eduardo Ustaran, partner at Hogan Lovells, look for common ground in a problem with no easy answers

• July 15, 2021 15 Jul'21

  UK government publishes skills-focused anti-disinformation plan

  Online Media Literacy Strategy aims to train teachers and care-givers in understanding disinformation so they can help others in safely navigating the internet

• July 15, 2021 15 Jul'21

  UK workforce needs reskilling for net-zero transition

  Green Jobs Taskforce report looks at how the UK’s workforce can be skilled up to support the transition to net zero

• July 14, 2021 14 Jul'21

  UK should set up digital task forces to transform governance

  Commission for Smart Government paper sets out recommendations for how government can use digital technologies to better serve citizens’ needs, and calls for it to set up new digital task forces

• July 14, 2021 14 Jul'21

  More than half of European IT outsourcing spending will soon be on cloud services

  Cloud services will soon be the largest part of the IT services market in Europe, as enterprises invest in them as part of their Covid-19 recovery strategies

• July 14, 2021 14 Jul'21

  Multiple Microsoft bugs being actively exploited

  Microsoft’s July Patch Tuesday update fixes 117 vulnerabilities, 13 rated as critical and four already being actively exploited

• July 14, 2021 14 Jul'21

  London announces winners of Covid-19 recovery innovation challenge

  The Mayor’s Resilience Fund called for ideas to support businesses and communities emerge from the pandemic, and there are some standout winners

• July 13, 2021 13 Jul'21

  Dutch prosecutor ordered to give evidence on EncroChat hack

  Netherlands court rules that a public prosecutor should give evidence about the role of the Dutch in the EncroChat cryptophone hack which has led to arrests of organised gangs worldwide

• July 13, 2021 13 Jul'21

  Home Office launches three-year digital strategy

  The strategy sets out six principles, aiming to reduce cost and complexity while driving innovation and developing better digital products and services

• July 13, 2021 13 Jul'21

  Russia tightens pressure on global IT companies

  Russian authorities will force certain IT companies with customers in Russia to open local offices